Cell phone fees OK for consumers, not government - washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON -- A leading cellular phone company declined to charge the government the same expensive fees it charges consumers for canceling their contracts early, acknowledging that "the government will never, never accept such penalty amounts," according to internal corporate e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.

The exasperating fees are the subject of a hearing Thursday at the Federal Communications Commission. The e-mails from Nextel Communications Inc. come at a time when the FCC is considering whether to offer consumers relief from cell phone fees that the government itself appears to have avoided.

The Associated Press last month revealed details of the industry's efforts to help consumers avoid such fees in exchange for letting companies off the hook in state courts where they are being sued for hundreds of millions of dollars by angry customers.